International

Does a photo of a ballot prove that a Canadian citizen was able to cast a vote for Donald Trump because there is no voter ID law in the United States? No, that's not true: The absentee ballot in the photo showing a vote for Trump was copied from a Florida voter's social media post. The post from a person…

Does a photo on social media show people crowding the street outside Madison Square Garden in New York in 2024 for a Trump rally? No, that's not true: Images from the street scene first appeared in 2011, showing people in Dublin lined up for an event attended by then-President Barack Obama. Actual photos from Trump's Madison Square Garden rally in…

Did Sean "Diddy" Combs pay Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff $500,000 for a tip that alerted him to the police raids that were about to search his homes in Florida and California, according to a video with an article? No, that's not true: The federal government announced that "Russian influence actors" manufactured the video. The article was published…

Did South Korea announce it will deploy troops in Ukraine to engage in active combat against North Korean troops supporting Russia? No, that's not true: On October 30, 2024, neither U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin nor his South Korean counterpart Kim Yong-hyun said anything about it during a joint press conference about the potential engagement of North Korean troops…

Was Adolf Hitler nominated as a serious candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1939? No, that is missing context: The Nobel websites state that the nomination was not meant to be taken seriously and was withdrawn five days after it was made. According to the nominator, a Swedish anti-fascist, the nomination was intended as irony "to shame" Hitler "as…

Did Donald Trump call British protesters to join a march on the U.K. parliament in October 2024? No, that's not true: A video that purported to have narration by Trump showed signs that it was not authentic, according to several AI detectors. Lead Stories found no credible sources confirming that Trump ever said the words attributed to him. The claim…

Was Bill Gates criminally indicted in the Netherlands in October 2024 for his role in the COVID-19 pandemic? No, that's not true: A Dutch judge only ruled that the case can be heard in the Netherlands because one plaintiff lives in the region covered by the court. This is a civil lawsuit, as court records show, and, therefore, it doesn't…

Do two clips of the same adults carrying a wounded boy in Gaza prove that the scene was staged in different locations? No, that's not true: The clips on social media come from a single video that depicts the response to a single event in Gaza -- a blast near a medical facility. Lead Stories confirmed that the clips came…

Does a photo show a tunnel in Sean "Diddy" Combs' Los Angeles home? No, that's not true: The image actually shows the Grand Canyon Caverns in Arizona. The photo also significantly predates the 2024 allegations and legal actions against Combs. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X on September 26, 2024. The post featured an image of…

Does a video clip going viral on social media show Vice President Kamala Harris intoxicated while speaking about being "a joyful warrior"? No, that's not true: In the original video Harris can be heard speaking normally. Multiple AI detection tools found there was a high likelihood that this clip has been manipulated. The video was altered to make Harris sound…

Did the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees put a black band across its profile image on X to grieve the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar? No, that's not true: The band was on the image for months before Sinwar's death, according to archived pages of the account and to the agency. An agency spokesperson told…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy officially declare war on Russia's allies, Iran and North Korea? No, that's not true: Despite what some social media posts are saying, as of this writing neither Ukrainian government sites, the Iranian Embassy in Ukraine nor news media have mentioned any such declaration of war. In public speeches Zelenskyy has described Iran and North Korea's…

Does a video show former One Direction singer Liam Payne falling to his death in Argentina? No, that's not true: The video is of another person escaping a fire. It was taken in Mexico in 2023, before Payne's death. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on October 17, 2024. The post, which included a series…

Did presidential candidate Kamala Harris lie about having a Black grandmother, because the woman she identifies in her autobiography as her grandmother died four years before Harris was born? No, that's not true: Two women -- one of whom would become Harris' grandmother -- with similar first names were born in the same district of Jamaica around the same time.…

Does a video circulating on social media in October 2024 show a Florida bridge jammed with cars during Hurricane Milton? No, that's not true: The clip shows vehicles backed up on a bridge in Mumbai, India -- not Florida. It appeared on social media during Mumbai's floods in September 2024. The claim appeared in video on TikTok (archived here) on…

Do public documents about an alleged plot to carry out a terror attack on behalf of ISIS on U.S. Election Day reveal that a mobile device "visited" the home of one of the suspects and "also visited Senator Lankford's office on 3 occasions"? No, that's not true: No publicly available official documents said that. Though the post includes a press…

Does a compilation of storm video clips on social media show Hurricane Milton? No, that's not true: A collection of video clips using the hashtag #HurricanMilton shows storm footage from around the world that dates back months and even years. The clickbait compilation was posted on social media on October 8, 2024, when Hurricane Milton was over 400 miles from…

Does a photo in an online article prove that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy bought Hitler's Mercedes during his 2024 trip to the United States? No, that's not true: The article's image of the vehicle, supposedly in front of the Ukrainian presidential administration building, was digitally manipulated. The picture of this antique car has been online since 2018 and was first…

Does a photo on social media show an attack on a U.S. military base in Baghdad? No, that's not true: The scene in the picture is of a fire in 2011 at a facility in New Jersey. There is no evidence that an explosion occurred at a U.S. military base in Baghdad in September 2024. The claim appeared in a…

Does a viral video show Israeli troops being attacked by Hezbollah in Lebanon? No, that's not true: The same footage has been online since 2017. The video's earliest version showed a logo of a Syrian rebel group. It was published with explicit references to the situation in Syria. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X, formerly known…